It is known to fill pourable products such as carbonated liquids (e.g. sparkling water, soft drinks and beer), non-carbonated liquids (e.g. still water, juices, teas, sport drinks, liquid cleaners, wine, etc.), emulsions, suspensions, high viscosity liquids and beverages containing pulps into receptacles such as bottles, containers or the like.
Well-known receptacles are bottles made from thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which in the recent years, have become more and more popular.
However, these bottles formed from thermoplastic polymers are known to be critical with respect to their sensitivity to increased temperatures. This is e.g. the case during the so called hot filling of pourable products during which a hot pourable product is filled into the bottles allowing to sterilize the inner walls of the bottle. Additionally, the walls of the bottles are heated and caution has to be taken during the filling step itself and during the further processing of the bottles in order to avoid a possible damaging of the hot bottles and a loss of the pourable product.
Furthermore, in a typical treatment machine these bottles are obtained during a molding process in a molding apparatus of the treatment machine from which the bottles exit at increased temperatures, which makes it necessary for the bottles cooling down prior to being filled or further treated in any other manner.
It is furthermore known that these treatment machines comprise a conveying and cooling apparatus, which advances the bottles exiting from the molding apparatus along an extended conveying path, possibly passing a cooling chamber during which the bottles can cool down. In particular, the cooling time needs to be set such that the bottom portion of the bottles, which is known to contain more material than the sidewalls and accordingly require a longer time to cool down with respect to the sidewalls (lateral surfaces), reaches the temperatures, which allow for performing the next treatment processes.
In the recent years, compact treatment machines have become popular. These compact treatment machines (which are typically of the rotary type) comprise a plurality of treatment apparatuses, which are arranged in a blocked configuration (i.e. the varying treatment apparatuses work at the same operating speeds). In particular, for these compact treatment apparatuses, the presence of a conveying and cooling apparatus having an extended conveying path is disadvantageous as compromising the overall compactness.
A receptacle treatment machine for producing and filling bottles is disclosed in FR-A-2871093. The treatment machine disclosed comprises a blow molding apparatus at which bottles are obtained during a blow molding step from preforms, a filling apparatus for filling the bottles and a conveying and cooling apparatus for advancing the bottles from the blow molding apparatus to the filling apparatus and for cooling the bottles during their advancement.
In more detail, the conveying and cooling apparatus comprises a linear conveying device disposed between the blow molding apparatus and the filling apparatus and a cooling device arranged at the interface between the blow molding apparatus and the conveying device being adapted to direct a cooling medium (air/water mixture) onto the outer surface, in particular onto the outer bottom portion of the receptacles.
In further detail, the cooling device comprises an injection nozzle being fixed in space. In an alternative embodiment briefly mentioned in FR-A-2871093, the injection nozzle is moveable for following at least partially the advancement of the bottles.
A drawback of the conveying and cooling apparatus disclosed in FR-A-2871093 can be seen in the fact that during the injection of the cooling medium also the sidewalls (lateral surfaces) of the bottles become wetted which can turn out to be critical during a successive labeling of the bottles. This problem is further increased if there are gaps within the succession of bottles transferred by the conveying device from the blow molding apparatus to the filling apparatus.
Another treatment machine having an improved conveying and cooling apparatus is disclosed in EP-A-2307184.
In more detail, the treatment machine comprises a blow molding apparatus, which receives preforms and which produces bottles from the preforms during a blow molding step. A succession of hot bottles is obtained, which is delivered to the conveying and cooling device.
In one embodiment disclosed in EP-A-2307184, the conveying and cooling apparatus comprises a conveying carousel being rotatable around a central rotation axis and having a plurality of gripping elements for gripping the bottles during advancement of the bottles due to the rotation of the conveying carousel.
The conveying and cooling apparatus furthermore comprises a cooling device, which is configured to direct a cooling medium (air, water or air/water mixture) in particular on the bottom portions of the bottles.
The cooling device comprises a plurality of injection nozzles, which advance synchronically with the rotation of the conveying carousel so that the injection nozzles always remain arranged directly below the bottles; the cooling medium is directed to the bottom portions of the bottles.
More specifically, the cooling device comprises a fixed annular tank fluidically connected to a supply unit for the supply of cooling medium to the annular tank and an annular cover carrying the injection nozzles rotating, synchronically with the conveying carousel, over the fixed annular channel.
A drawback of the conveying and cooling apparatus disclosed in EP-A-2307184 is that the cooling device is configured so that the cooling medium exits from the injection nozzles in an equal manner also in case one or more bottles lack in the succession of bottles so that not all grippers retain a bottle. This leads to spoilage of the cooling medium and an uncontrolled distribution of the cooling medium onto the bottles currently advanced within the conveying and cooling apparatus. This leads to the presence of water on the sidewalls of the bottles in the case the cooling medium is water or an air/water mixture.